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Advice for my laidoff colleagues

I'm working on letters of rec for my colleagues who were laid off by the school board this week. Seven people have been cut just from our English department, over twenty school wide. I spoke to one of them this morning and gave him some tips for professional networking. He
asked me to send them as links and I thought they might be useful for people beyond my own site.

1. Make sure you are on Linked In. http://www.linkedin.com
Add everyone you know in education. You can ask for recommendations on
Linked in too. These are usually shorter than typical letters of rec
and can range more broadly. If you have former students on it they can
write you recs too. If you have parents of former students they can
recommend you and of course colleagues.

3. Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Look up the hashtag #edchat and follow people who use it that look good
to you. It's not easy to build a network on short notice, but it's time
to start. If I had to find a new job right now my twitter network
would be my best resource. (See also hashtags related to your subject
area, #engchat, #sschat, #scichat, #mathchat.) I'm @JenRoberts1

5. Network: Most educational conferences have a vendor area. Many
vendors are looking for teachers who want to work with them to create
materials. The largest ed tech conference in the world will be in San
Diego at the end of June. Walk the vendor hall with your personal card
and promote yourself. You don't need to be a tech expert, just an
experienced teacher willing to learn about their product. Often you can get free or discounted admission to conferences if you offer to volunteer.

Up next...

SAMR, developed by Ruben Puentedura, is one model for examining the evolution of tech integration in classrooms. It focuses on the type of work students are doing and how much that work deviates from traditional classroom practices. In a sense, it measures the future against the past. This four minute video is great if you would like to hear him explain it in his own words.

I like the SAMR model and I think it does what models are supposed to do, it get us talking and thinking about the work going on in our classrooms. This graphic shows the progression of a teacher's thinking with a bit of humor too.

As a model though, I think SAMR has some issues we need to talk and think about more. This is my list of concerns.

For further exploration:

It privileges the modification and redefinition stages such that good teaching without tech is marginalized. Even after five years of 1:1 I still have a few fabulous lessons that just work better on paper. They are worth keeping even if they do n…

Considering National Boards? I recommend the process, but you should know what you are getting into. Start early and get organized.

In the spring of 2016 I began pursuing National Board Certification for teaching. I know eventually someone will ask me for my thoughts and advice about that process, so I'll capture them now while the experience is fresh. Because I teach 9th grade, and previously taught middle school for ten years, I decided to do my NBCT in the area of Young Adolescent ELA. (Yes, I also taught 11th grade for six years, but that was a while ago.)

Though some do it in one year, I'm taking two years to complete my NBCT. Last summer, at a small local conference, I stumbled into a conversation about National Boards and happened to find out that my County Office of Education sponsored a support program. I was just in time to sign up. Through that program I got early advice and support to help me understand expectations and deadlines. The amazing staff at the County O…

It happens to all of us sometimes. Your perfectly planned lesson goes just a bit faster than you expected and you have a few minutes left at the end of class. Or maybe your students have been showing some excellent focus on their projects and you want to give them a few minutes of fun. My students have to put their laptops in a cart at the end of class and that takes a few minutes. For whatever reason it's good to have a few things you can pull up fast and engage students with for those last few minutes. These are some of my favorites. Share your's in the comments.

GeoGuesser:https://geoguessr.com/
This site drops you at a spot in the world and you have to guess where you are. It's good for a quick lesson in observing details. It's funny how often it seems like the picture seems to be from one place, but it really a whole different continent. I'll have one student come up to play, but the whole class loves to watch and make suggestions. Pro tip, teach them they can…